Attachment for carrying batteries suspended on a belt



R v Feb. 13, 1940.

F. LA VAN 2,190,601

ATTACHMENT FOR CARRYING BATTERIES SUSPENDED ON A BELT v Filed Jan. 6, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 R I. 5 f 0 1N VENTOR.

ATTORNEYS F. LA VAN Feb. 13, 1940.

ATTACHMENT FOR CARRYING BATTERIES SUSPENDED on A BELT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan.6, 1938 ATTORNEYS Patented Feb. 13, 1949 i v i i 7 2,190,601 I I ATTACHMENT FOR CARRYING BATTERIES SUSPENDED ON A BELT- Frank La Van, Bryn Mawr,"Wash. Application January 6, 1938, Serial No.,l83,'701

1 Claim. (01. 224-4) My invention relates tocthe general art of de- Aiurther object of my present invention is'to vices for attaching packages and equipment to providea securing means suchthat, if for any waist belts and more particularly to an attachreason the latch itself became unhooked, the case ment for carrying batteries suspended on a belt. would not fall off. of the latch thus greatly in- 5 In many lines of work, particularly mining, in conveniencing the user, or if it became entirely 5- the military, and in many fields of sport it is delost even endangering him. sirable to have a battery energized lamp that may Still another object of my. present invention is be secured to the hat, or to the body of the user, to provide a secure means, for fastening the and to have a convenient means for supporting tongue of my attaching device, which will be it, the weight of the battery. When a person is simple in operation and whensecured in place l walking through the dark on mountain trails, will provideapositive engagement; l in hunting areas, or is employed in physical effort Another important object of my invention is such as, mining, or the like, it is very desirable the provision of means wherebydevices maybe to have the maximum illumination that can be attached to abelt without the necessity of running lonpractically carried.- Naturally, there is a limit the belt through a fixed'loop on the containerj li to the size of battery that a user can conveniently and further, so that a container having'a relacarry while engaged in work; however, it is necestively narrow loop can be. attached to a belt sary that the battery be of such a size as to last of considerable width, it having been found that for one normal days work of eight hours. No for carrying considerable weight a reasonably matter what type is used it is diflicult to obtain wide belt is desirable. 2 the ampere hour capacity in a battery without Other and more specific objects will be appargetting considerable weight; so it naturally folent from the following description taken in 0011-, lows that if the lamp is to be of maximum usefulnection with the accompanying drawings, ness it should, normally, be affixed to the cap of wherein: i the user so that as he turns his head the light will Figures 1, 2, and 3 are perspective views of the always illuminate that area in which the next three principal elements making up my attaching move is to be made. This, therefore, calls for a means. i division between the light itself and the battery Figure 4 is a bracketed, perspective view showand for a connection between the two in the form ing one type of container to which my device is of a cable. readily adaptable and also showing a section of It is for this type of equipment that my device a waist belt withmy attaching means shown in is particularly desirable in that it gives a quick its closed position.

- UNITED STATES PATENT oFFmEQQ,

and fool-proof means for attaching a consider- Figures 5 to 12, inclusive, are plan views in able weight to the belt. section. g Miners and sportsmen place an unusual re- Figure 5 shows my device in its normal carry- 85 quirement upon such lighting equipment in that ing position.

they must go through narrow places with an Figures 6 and 7 show consecutive steps in the insufficiency of light and quite often will brush disengagement of the load carrying tongue. against trees, or projecting wall faces ortimber- Figures 8, 9, 10, l1, and 12 illustrate successive ing of tunnels. Consequently, it is desirable that, stages in securing a load to a belt through the. 40

once the device attached, it will definitely stay use of my device. attached until the user desires to discard it. Referring to the drawings, throughout which Further, it is desirable that the batteryboxbe like reference characters indicate like parts, It easily removable from the belt so that it can designates the fixed pivot member. This is nor- ,w quickly be replaced with a fresh unit. This remally secured to belt [5 as by a plurality of rivets "placement often must be made in darkness or l6 which pass through suitable openings la in semi-darkness, and it is therefore an added remember l4. Pivotally secured to member I4 is quirement that the device not only provide a the tongue member 20. This has complementary secure means of attachment but that it will also hinge members at 22 which are adapted to ge 5o operate easily under adverse conditions. the hinge member 24 of the fixed pivot member The principal object of my present invention, M; the exact arrangement of this hinge is a therefore, is to provide an attaching means matter of individual preference. A hinge pin as whereby a battery case or other desirable case 26 is provided so that when pivot member 14 is may be quickly attached to a waist belt of a suit-' fixedly secured to the belt, tongue member 20 also able character. I becomes a fixture with the belt.

by the folding back of the metal at 36.

period. To further Tongue 20 is bowed tial part of this structure in that it makes possible obtaining the greatest usefulness from certain other portions of this device.

Near the opposite end of member 20, from pivot 22, is struck inwardly a retaining lug 28, outwardly toward end 30 from lug 28 an opening 32 is formed. This opening is adapted to receive the hooked over portion of latch member 34. metal which is struck out from opening 32 is folded outwardly and toward end 30 so as to form an edge of greater thickness; in this way a greatly increased wearing surface is provided for that portion of opening 32 which encounters the most wear. This is preferably formed after the showing at 36 so that at least double the thickness of metal is employed at this point. It will naturally follow that for certain uses it might be desirable to bend the metal back on itself once more so as to provide possibly a triple thickness.

Adapted to engage in opening 32 is the latch member 34 which itself is fixedly secured to belt I as by rivets 38 which are passed through openings 39 in member 34. 1Thehook portion 40 of member 34 is probably best illustrated in Figure 3 and in the sectional views 5 to 12, inclusive. It will be noted that the gap in the hook, as 42, is

f of considerable extent so as to easily accommodate the increased thickness of tongue 20 occasioned gives a relatively large bearing surface which has been found to give good service over a long assist in promoting long-life in this unit, I have provided bearing plates at 44 and 45. These take the vertical wear that comes on hook member 46 or the upper and lower margins of opening 32. It will be apparent, it is believed, that by having bearing plates 44 and 45 of liberal proportions, it will result in substantially decreased wear which would otherwise be occasioned because Method of operation In using my device it is customary to provide the ordinary battery box, or instrument case, as 59 with a belt loop as This should be reasonably long-or in duplicate so as to give longitudinal stability to case The actual manner of using my devicewill probably be best understood from a study of Figures 5 to 12, inclusive.

In Figure 5 my attaching means is shown in the position in which it would normally be carried on the belt of the user. In order to open tongue 25 it is necessary to loop the belt back on itself as is illustrated at 54 in Figure 6. In this position it is then possible to release end 35 of tongue 20 from hook 49. As soon as this is accomplished the device should be allowed to assume its normal posential feature of this engagement.

This

sition as shown is then put in through loop 52. In Figure 8 is shown the normal curve of tongue 20; then, as the tongue is forced further through loop 52, it will, of necessity, have through loop 52 and because of tongue 20, lug 28 is placed in a position to definitely prevent loop 52 from sliding oil" tongue 2!]. This is a desirable relationship and forms an estongue 26 Figure 6. is engaged in open ing 32 the belt can be allowed to assume its normal position shown in Figure The operation is complete. To remove the cannister or battery case from the belt a reversal of the operation described is sufficient.

Attention is invited to the fact that the persons who have needfor a light of this order are normaliy accustomed to working in tight places, brushing against obstructions and equipment in badly lighted places and it is under such conditions that any reasonably, easily operated latcharrangement can be unintentionally unhooked. In my present arrangement, however, even though the hook member 45 should become disengaged from opening 33, the battery box still is held to the belt by lug 28 and, a result, the light is in no danger of damage that might otherwise make it inoperative. This is a matter of vital concern to persons who must light their way, sometimes for miles; particularly is this true under ground where if a persons light were to fail it might take hours to get to a point where adequate lighting would be available and during this travel they would probably be in constant danger from obstructions, openings, shafts, or inclines that would add greatly to their already hazardous occupation.

The foregoingdescription and the accompany-- ing drawings are believed to clearly disclose a preferred embodiment of my invention but it will be understood that this disclosure is merely illustrative and that such changes in the invention may be made as are fairly within the scope and spirit of the following ciaim.

Having thus fully described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In an article carrier, the combination with a flexible belt, of a resilient, curved article-support ing tongue mounted on a pivot extending transversely on the belt, said tongue having an opening adjacent its free end, a hook secured to the belt and adapted to engage the walls of said open ing, the distance from the free end of the hook to the pivot being greater than the chord of the curved tongue, an offset lug on the tongue adjacent said opening, and said lug extending in a plane parallel with the axis of the tongue pivot and located between the tongue and the belt.

FRANK LA VAN. 

